Sudan crisis: ‘I’ve lost my home, now I’m afraid I’ll lose my country’

It has been more than 18 months since crisis erupted in Sudan, pushing the country to the verge of famine and creating the world’s biggest displacement crisis. Many of Islamic Relief’s own staff have been deeply affected by the violence, including Abdallah Hassan, a Monitoring and Evaluation (MEAL) officer in Sudan, who shares his story here.

As a child who grew up in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in North Darfur from 7 years old, I always knew that I wanted to help displaced people like me. I lost my father in 2003 due to the conflict in my village of Sigring in Darfur.

Since then, I was determined to support my family and be armed with knowledge.

From studying in a UNICEF primary school while receiving WFP (World Food Programme) food aid, to being awarded my Bachelor’s Degree in Disaster and Crises Management, and my Master’s in Safety and Security. I studied these specialties in Khartoum passionately to help people affected by conflicts.

I joined Islamic Relief in March 2023, just a month before the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan. I was first deployed in Kordofan, but due to the security situation, I was moved to Sinnar where I served for 10 months.

I built a good rapport with the community and leaders in Sinnar through my role as a MEAL officer. I also supported programme staff in water, sanitation and hygiene, livelihood, and health activities as we were understaffed.

The conflict spreads

The conflict spread to Sinnar in June 2024. As the Officer in Charge at the time, I was burdened with making a difficult evacuation decision. After contacting the country office’s operations team, I immediately evacuated the staff, took important office assets, and headed to Gedarif.

The roads were inaccessible due to the rains and the journey was very dangerous as there was an exchange of fire. I was under enormous stress as the safety of the staff fell on me. When the armed fighting began, one of my colleagues, Sharaf, went to a nearby place. I had to make a difficult decision to leave him and start the car to escape the fire. I had to think about the safety of the staff present with me in the car at that moment.

Luckily, I instructed Sharaf to get on any car heading our way, and now he is safe in Gedarif.

The journey to Gedarif was a dangerous 3 days on the road. Families fleeing Sinnar recognised me. “Aren’t you Islamic Relief’s Abdallah?” they asked. I felt sad seeing them flee Sinnar and enduring such hardship.

After arriving at Gedarif, I was in contact with families from Sinnar and I learned that they had arrived as well. I am glad that I was able to help them through our emergency projects there. Experiencing displacement 4 times took a toll on me; it affected my mental health.

Through it all, I continued to serve displaced families in Gedarif because I felt a commitment towards them.

Being displaced so many times makes you lose your sense of home. To me, I always considered the Kabkabya locality of North Darfur where I grew up in the camp to be my home. I miss it dearly, and I hope to see my brothers and sister soon.

Growing up in the conflict-stricken Darfur region, I always imagined that I would be accustomed to conflicts and displacement. However, as I witness conflict spreading to more and more states in Sudan, I am afraid I will lose my country as I have previosuly lost my home.

Islamic Relief is supporting the people of Sudan in their time of greatest need – with your kind donations, we can deliver more life-saving aid. Please donate today.